


Stay With Me

by HiIAmSociallyAwkwardButHereIAm



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus Hermione Granger, Endgame Hermione Granger/Bellatrix Black Lestrange, F/F, Head Girl Hermione Granger, Lesbian Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Lesbian Character, Past Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:01:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28040568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiIAmSociallyAwkwardButHereIAm/pseuds/HiIAmSociallyAwkwardButHereIAm
Summary: Hermione finds Bellatrix injured in the forest after the war...  what to do with her now?
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger & Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger & Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger/Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Luna Lovegood & Ginny Weasley
Comments: 27
Kudos: 155





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, Snape totally shouldn't have died, and some of y'all may hate me for this, but I'm gonna pretend he's still alive and acting as headmaster. Sorrynotsorry.
> 
> The first few chapters will be shorter, but they'll get longer.

_AU: Set in the trio's seventh year, after Harry defeated Voldemort._

Chilling wind bit at Hermione's face as she stood by the lake. Clouds rolled over the night sky, and she smelt the scent of the coming storm. Regardless, of how calm her surroundings seemed, Hermione was deathly nervous. The rain began, and within seconds it was bucketing down, soaking Hermione through. Her robes were saturated, and her usually curly brown hair was plastered against her face.

She'd done everything right. She was sure... almost. She went through the mental list in her head. She'd had the mandrake leaf in her mouth for a month; full moon to full moon. Every sunrise and sundown she'd placed her wand to her heart and chanted _Amato Animo Animato Animagus._ She'd brewed the potion with all the ingredients. The dew from the place that neither sunlight nor human feet have touched. The chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth after seven days. She'd put the mixture in a dark and quiet place, and now the storm she'd been waiting for had arrived. She'd done it all. She was sure. 

She stepped over to a large rock by the lake edge as a clap of thunder sounded, soon followed by lightning that struck through the sky, casting a bright flash over the lake. Under the rock lay a crystal vial. She picked it up to see the blood-red mixture.

She forced herself not to think about the worst that could happen if something went wrong. She forced herself not to imagine a half-human, half-animal creature walking around. It wouldn't have been pretty, like centaurs. No, for all she knew she could end up with a dog body and human head. She shuddered. _No, don't think about that. You can't get distracted. You can't show fear._

"Amato Animo Animato Animagus," she whispered, pointing her vine wand at her chest. She had to force both her voice and hand not to tremble, for fear she would mess up the spell. 

Taking a big breath, she swallowed the potion in her hand.

Fire. No, molten lava, spilled through her veins and Hermione cried out in shock, dropping the vial. Then there it was. The second heartbeat. It was faster, irregular, but somehow comfortable, unlike the pain racing through her body.

She dropped to the floor, vision going white for a moment. _Show no fear, show no fear._ She chanted to herself, as per the warning in the book on animagi she had read. 

Then she felt it. Her bones clicked smoothly into their new position and she shrunk. Fur grew on her limbs, and then she was a human no more. She tried to walk towards the lake, but it ended more as a stumble.

She gazed at her reflection in the rain-splattered lake, and although it was distorted, the animal gazing back at her was clearly a fox. She laughed in victory, but the sound that came out was definitely not human. She couldn't care less. She tumbled around in glee like a newborn foal, tripping over her dark legs. 

As she calmed, Hermione heard a crack with her now-sensitive ears. Head snapping towards the source, she looked into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. As lightning flashed, eyes stared back at her.


	2. Chapter 2

The sky was clear tonight. The stars and moon were shining their light down on Hermione as she made her way down to the lake for the fourth night since she'd first transformed. The past two nights, she'd spent more time getting used to her new body, staying out for hours at a time. Each night, the pair of eyes never failed to be watching her from afar, but the moment she'd approach, they would disappear. 

She transformed. No pain, no fear she had to shove into the back of her mind. Despite only having changed a couple times, it already felt like second nature. Her bones slid and clicked into their positions, smoother than ever before, and in an instant she was a fox. She looked towards the forest, almost hoping to see the eyes there again. They were there. She stared for a moment, the eyes stared back. And then, much to her surprise, the creature stepped out into the moonlight.

The fox in front of her was completely black, save for the silvery scars that were like spiders-webs over her body. Her eyes were deep and dark, contrasting to the muggle-born's honey-coloured ones. The dark fox was too skinny to be healthy, but Hermione guessed that would be normal if one lived out in the Forbidden Forest, of all places. Hermione stood stock-still, afraid that if she moved, she'd scare the beautiful creature away.

The fox approached her warily and sniffed her before padding around her in a circle curiously. Then, the dark fox nipped the other before darting away playfully. The brown fox soon caught on, and soon the two were tumbling around. The black fox's movements were precise and calculated. She never moved without purpose. In juxtaposition, Hermione's were flailing and uncoordinated. Half of her movements were accidental.

It was pure luck the Hermione tripped into the other fox, sending them both tumbling to the ground, and Hermione ending up on top. Grinning a fox-like grin, Hermione stared down at her companion before darting a tongue out to lick the other fox's nose playfully. The fox beneath her froze, just long enough for Hermione to pick up on it, but then the brown fox was on her back, gazing up at the black fox, who smirked down at her in an almost-human way. In an instant, Hermione felt a tongue lick her nose. The dark fox let out fox-laugh.

The two played around until Hermione figured she should get to bed and transformed back. To her surprise, the dark fox just watched her, not at all surprised as she changed species. Hermione turned towards the castle, but deciding she should give a proper goodnight to her new friend, turned around, only to see that the other fox had disappeared into the night. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ms Granger. Ms Granger!" Professor McGonagall half-yelled, raising her voice at the only student who she'd never needed to do so to before. 

Hermione was jerked from her daydream, being forced back into reality, back into the theory Transfiguration lesson they were doing. Of course, it didn't harm her education at all for her not to be listening. They were, after all, learning about animagus. On a normal day, Hermione would have listened for the sake of being polite, but she'd been getting little sleep lately and, quite frankly, couldn't be bothered anymore.

"Care to tell us the requirements for the animagus potion, Ms Granger?" McGonagall asked. Some of the others in the class frowned; they would've earned a detention by now, at least. The professor, however, could tell that her student had good reason to not be paying attention, whether she knew said reason or not. 

"A silver teaspoon of dew from the place that neither sunlight nor human feet have touched and, after seven days, the chrysalis of a Death-Hawk Moth. Place the mixture in a quiet, dark place, and leave it alone until the next electrical storm," Hermione said, reciting the words from her animagus book word for word. Professor McGonagall looked slightly surprised at this. The gryffindor had clearly been in a world of her own, but still somehow managed to know the answer to her question.

"Correct. Five points to Gryffindor."

And with that, Hermione slipped back into her daydream, thinking about the dark fox and when she'd next see her. When the class was dismissed, the professor called out to Hermione to stay behind, and she did so obediently, albeit, slightly nervous that the professor had either figured her out or was going to get her in trouble for not listening. 

"Are you feeling okay, Miss Granger?" the professor asked, shocking Hermione.

"Yes, Professor, I'm just a little tired."

"I see. Don't push yourself too hard, Miss Granger. I would hate to see a student as bright as yourself burn out."

Hermione was then dismissed. 

The next couple nights, she'd go down to the lake, and she would stay in the company of her new friend. Sometimes they would play, others Hermione would sense a change in the fox and be smart enough to simply sit in silence. 

After classes on the tenth day after her transformation, Hermione headed down to Hagrid's hut, wanting to see her friend and professor, who she hadn't been able to have a good conversation with in far too long. Even if it meant suffering through Hagrid's rock cakes. The hut was empty, but as Hermione turned to head back to the castle in defeat, she saw a figure heading around the hut towards where she was standing.

"'Ey 'Mione, 'aven't seen yeh in a while," Hagrid greeted, beaming. "Sorry I wasn' 'ere. There's been sommin' stalkin' about, killen off me chickens. Unfortunately, I needed to set a couple traps to catch the lil' bugger. 'ate teh kill off an innocent animal lookin' for some food, but I ain't really go' a choice, do I?"

Hermione's thoughts immediately went to her fox. _Her fox? Since when did she become her fox?_ Hermione wondered, concern in the forefront of her mind. She pushed the thoughts back of her mind. She'd see the fox tonight and find some way to warn her. Easy. For now, she could enjoy the company of an old friend. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, open to prompts and suggestions!

When the dark fox didn't show up after an hour of Hermione waiting for her, she began to grow. concerned. What if the fox had been caught in Hagrid's traps? What if she'd been attacked in the forest? 

Immediately, Hermione was in her human form and running towards Hagrid's hut. As she neared the building, she slowed as to not wake the sleeping half-giant. She shouldn't have worried however, because the moment she was within ten metres of the hut, she heard snoring. There was no way Hagrid would be able to hear her over that. 

She snuck around to the back of the hut and muttered _Lumos._ Her breath caught in her chest as she saw a small, black fox, covered in blood, lying on the floor. 

"Oh my god," Hermione whispered, hurrying over to the fox. The fox, barely awake, flinched away from the human. "Hey, hey. It's just me," she whispered, holding her hands out in surrender, wand hanging loosely in her hand. The fox relaxed as she recognised her, and let out a small whimper of pain as Hermione fiddled with the trap digging into the tender flesh of her leg. She whipped around in shock as Hermione pulled something experimentally, trying to bite the young witch, who flinched away in response. "Sorry, sorry. Give me a minute."

A moment later, the trap snapped open and the dark fox leapt away before wincing and raising her injured leg off the ground. Hermione immediately took her cloak off and reached towards the fox, who jumped back, snarling. Hermione gave the fox a pleading look, having learnt that expressions tell more than words ever could when it comes to animals. Reluctantly and eyeing Hermione with a mistrustful glare, the fox allowed Hermione to wrap the cloak around the small creature and lift her up into her arms. 

With the still-bleeding animal snugly in her arms, the young witch hurried the dark fox back to the castle and up to the gryffindor dorms.

Hermione slipped into her room quietly, a shadow in the darkness. She was enormously grateful for the Head girls' and boys' private bedrooms. She closed and locked her door behind her and placed the fox gently on her red-and-gold-themed sheets. 

Then Hermione began pacing, having no idea on any aspect of fox anatomy, let alone how to heal a fox. Where did she even begin? Could she use the same spells as she would on a human? What if it made things worse?

"You're making me dizzy, mudblood. You gonna heal me or not?" Hermione froze at the all too familiar voice.

Hermione froze in her tracks, eyes widening. She spun around in a nanosecond and had her wand pointed at the Death Eater a second later. The dark witch laughed, still lying, bloodied, on Hermione's bed.

"Does it look like I'm in any position to fight you, muddy? Just kill me and get it over with," Bellatrix ordered weakly. Hermione lowered her wand slightly, just slightly. Bellatrix looked, to put it bluntly, like shit. She was skin and bones, even thinner than when she'd escaped Azkaban, and that's not even counting the blood that was still seeping out of the gash on her leg. Her face was pale. Too pale.

"Kill you?" Hermione asked quietly, unsure.

"Afraid, muddy? Scared to utter the words that will stop my heart?" there was bitterness and malice in her voice, but it sounded as though it was covering something. Defeat? No. This was Bellatrix fucking Lestange. 

The older witch's eyes rolled back as she passed out and Hermione swore. Bellatrix was a bitch. A psychotic, narcissistic bitch, but Hermione was a good person and couldn't - not in good conscience, at least - let the witch die on her bed, despite her history. 

Muttering a string of curses under her breath, Hermione cast a diagnosis charm to see if there was any unseen damage and, glad there was none, whispered, "Vulnera Sanentur." Then, after thinking hard about how she wanted to do it, Hermione cast a charm not dissimilar to the Trace put on underage wizards. This one, however didn't require Bellatrix to use magic and instead allowed Hermione to know where she was at any given time. Just in case.

The wound closed slowly, and Hermione cast a quick scourgify to cleanse the room of blood. She then stood awkwardly, watching the unconscious witch. She sure as hell couldn't sleep. Not only was there a _Death Eater_ in her bed, and that she couldn't stand to touch said Death Eater, regardless of the fact she'd been carrying her just moments ago, but she _couldn't_ fall asleep in same room as the Bellatrix Lestrange. Although, she hadn't been sleeping much lately anyway, when she did, she woke up in a cold sweat, memories of the war racing through her mind. 

What should she do with Bellatrix? Handing her over to the dementors seemed to be the most sensible answer, but Hermione wasn't sure she'd be able to hand the dark witch's _soul_ to them. It seemed wrong, no matter what Bellatrix had done. Not only this, but she'd seen a different side of the witch in the past week and a half. She'd been _playful_ , and _happy._ Oh god. Oh god! She'd licked Bellatrix's nose! She'd _licked_ Bellatrix bloody Lestrange's nose! What the fuck?!

Her face reddened with embarrassment at this realisation. Oh god. Then her thoughts took her back on a loop. She couldn't just let Bellatrix go, could she? No, god no. She wasn't about to let a _murderer_ walk. No. But Hermione already knew she wouldn't be able to bring herself to hand the dark witch over to the ministry. 

Her thoughts took her on loops and loops of scenarios and situations. As the clock ticked over to three a.m, Hermione jumped a foot in the air as Bellatrix said, "Muddy. You're still pacing."

"Don't _fucking_ call me that, Lestrange," Hermione hissed at the witch, who was now sitting up, looking at her leg, that now only held a faint mark that would heal in time. At Hermione's words, her head snapped up and her eyes darkened.

"Black. And I'll call you whatever I _fucking_ want, Mudblood," she hissed. Hermione spun towards the witch and pressed her wand to the dark witch's throat. The Death Eater grinned manically.

"Do it," she dared. Hermione growled, and spun around again, letting out a yell of frustration.

"What the hell, Black?" Hermione yelled at the witch, glad for the silencing charm she'd permanently placed upon her quarters, courtesy of having woken up several of her housemates with her yells as she had her nightmares.

"What, Muddy?" the dark witch asked, a small smirk still on her face at Hermione's temper.

"By the lake! Every single night! You came, and met me, and... what was that, Black?" Hermione's voice went from a yell to a confused, defeated question.

Bellatrix shrugged, "I was bored, Muddy. You were fun, despite being a Mudblood."

"I _do_ have a name, you know," Hermione replied, rubbing her face tiredly.

"Yeah, it's written in your arm."

Hermione stiffened, her mind immediately remembering the flash of pain as Bellatrix carved the bloody discriminatory word in her arm. _Mudblood._ God, she hated that word.

"I just saved your sorry ass, and that's how you repay me, isn't it?" Hermione's voice wasn't aggressive. If anything, it was almost disappointed.

"If you were expecting me to fall on my knees and-," Bellatrix started harshly.

"You could at least say a bloody thank you!"

Bellatrix fell silent, but Hermione knew it was useless to hope for a thank you from the dark witch. "You did a good job, for a mudblood."

"I spent half of the time on the run healing Harry and Ron," Hermione replied, sitting on her chair by her desk, still warily clutching her wand. They fell into silence for a moment.

"Why did you do it?" Hermione had never heard Bellatrix so serious before, and it shocked her.

"Do what?" Hermione asked, now cradling her head in her hands.

"Save me, after you realised who I was?"

"Well I couldn't just let you die on my bed," she replied.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not you, Black," the words came out harsher than intended, but they were true nonetheless. Silence.

"You should sleep," Bellatrix said softly. Hermione snorted.

"Since when did you care about my welfare?" she asked, partially amused. 

"I don't," Bellatrix replied, a bit too quickly. "I just don't want those damned professors of yours to get all nosy and find me out."

Hermione sighed. "I'm not sleeping with you in the room."

"Then let me go," came the sharp reply.

"You and I both know that won't happen."

"Then cart me off to Azkaban."

"No one deserves that," Hermione muttered. "Not even you."

"You've got something right there, Muddy, but that doesn't solve our little problem."

"How about during the day, you turn into your fox form and come with me to classes as my familiar?"

"And what'll stop me from running away?" Bellatrix asked with a grin.

"I put a tracking charm on you. I'll know where you are and then I'll hand you over to the ministry." Bellatrix, for all her gusto, paled visibly. Clearly Hermione wasn't the only one who wasn't the biggest fan of the Azkaban guards. Although, she guessed that fourteen years of living with them would do that to a person. "That'll give me time to think over what to do with you," Hermione finished.

"You need to sleep. I know you haven't been," Bellatrix tried again.

"And how would you know that?" Hermione snapped.

"You're with me almost every night until four in the morning," the dark witch pointed out. "And I know from the look in your eyes that you're afraid to go to sleep some nights."

Hermione was stiff again as she stared at Bellatrix. The being with her until four in the morning was obvious, but the fact that the dark witch had picked up on her fear of going back to bed, that was unexpected. 

"I'm tying you up," Hermione stated. She hated to admit it, but Bellatrix was right. She did need to sleep. She stood and swung the chair to face Bellatrix who was glaring at her. 

"I'm not a dog," she sneered. 

"You're right. I wouldn't tie a dog up," Hermione retorted, earning herself a snarl. 

Ignoring Bellatrix's antics, Hermione pointed her wand at Bellatrix warningly, who sauntered over to the chair and sat down with a huff, a child in a woman's body. Hermione magically bolted the chair to the floor before securing Bellatrix to it. With that, Hermione went over to her bed and collapsed on top of it, asleep within seconds, despite the murderer grinning at her from the corner. 

"Mudblood. Mudblood!" Bellatrix yelled, shocking Hermione awake. Thanks to her months on the run, Hermione was wide awake immediately and in moments, heard footsteps approaching.

"Shit," she swore, releasing Bellatrix of the ropes and charms that held her. A fox stood before her a second before she heard a knock on the door.

"Hermionione, come on, you're going to miss breakfast."

"Go ahead of me then, Cormack," Hermione snapped, annoyed at the rude and slightly anxiety-inducing awakening.

"Okay," McLaggen replied, not wanting to wait any longer to fill his stomach.

The moment he was gone, Hermione jumped out of bed, and, completely forgetting about the dark witch who now stood in human form behind her, shrugged off her tie and shirt to change. A pointed cough behind her had Hermione spinning around and blushing profusely, grabbing a shirt to cover herself.

"My, my muddy. A bit provocative today, are we?"

Hermione spun around again, bright red, and all but shoved her arms through her shirt sleeves. When she was changed, she turned back to Bellatrix.

"Change into your animagus form. We're going to breakfast," Hermione ordered. Bellatrix was having none of it.

"I don't seem to remember telling you you could boss me around, Mudblood," Bellatrix spat.

"My way or the highway, Bellatrix," Hermione shot back.

"What's a highway?" Bellatrix asked, seeming genuinely curious. 

Hermione blushed again and kicked herself for just backing up Bellatrix on calling her a Mudblood. "It's... don't worry. It's a muggle thing."

Bellatrix cackled. "Must be pretty stupid then."

"Believe it or not," Hermione spat back, "Muggles, considering they don't have magic, are rather good at some things."

"Name _one._ "

"Are you _always_ this difficult?" Hermione shot at her. Bellatrix only grinned.

"I believe so. You sound so much like Cissy when you say that."

"Don't you dare relate me to Malfoy's mother."

"Cissy is nothing like her son," Bellatrix hissed, suddenly defensive, surprising Hermione with her sudden aggression. Hermione flinched at the pure rage in her eyes, before mentally kicking herself again for showing weakness. "Oh, is the little Mudbaby scared?" Bellatrix mocked. Hermione scowled.

"The dementors are sounding real flashy right now Bellatrix," she warned. Bellatrix fell silent. "Fox. Now."

Rolling her eyes, Bellatrix did as she was told. Hermione reached down to pick the little black fox up, unsure as to why, exactly, and was pleasantly surprised when Bellatrix didn't protest.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: PTSD

Hermione met some of her friends down at breakfast. Whilst Harry and Ron had gone off and accepted auror positions offered by the ministry, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Luna, Ginny, and a few others, had chosen to return for their final year (or in Ginny's case, her 6th year) after the repairs of the school had finished almost two months ago. The school was now considerably smaller, meaning, although they still had minor divides between houses, all the students sat at the same table. There were only about fifty students left. After the deaths in the battle, there were only just over two-hundred students, but most of them had left. Most of Hermione's grade had decided to graduate without actually completing the curriculum, but Hermione felt like she shouldn't accept a position within the ministry without completing Hogwarts just because she was in the Golden Trio. That meant, that in her grade were only Neville, Seamus, Luna, Blaise Zabini, Malfoy, Pansy and McLaggen.

Many of the Pureblood families had had to make other arrangements, because many were now in Azkaban, leaving Slytherin a very small house. As well as this, almost all of the muggle-borns had moved away, their parents accusing the wizarding world of being dangerously racist, which they had fair reason to believe. There were only seven Slytherins still attending Hogwarts, and from the other three houses there were no more than fifteen students. 

Hermione settled in her usual spot between Luna and Neville, when Luna asked in her usual airy voice, "Who's that little one, Hermione?" Hermione bit back a laugh at Bellatrix being called 'little one' and instead focused on trying to think of a name. Obviously, she couldn't say Bellatrix, and it felt wrong to give the dark witch an entirely new name.

"Trixie," she replied with a grin, glad she could get back at Bellatrix for all the slurs she'd called her. Hermione sat on the bench, Bellatrix settling herself next to her.

"That's sweet. Can I pet her?" Luna asked.

Hermione hesitated, "I wouldn't, if I were you. Let's be honest, I'm not in the habit of picking the nicest pets." Bellatrix let out a soft growl and nipped Hermione's hand. "Ouch!" she hissed.

Ginny didn't even try to hide her snort of laughter. Hermione pinned her with a half-hearted glare and Ginny responded by saying, "What? The fox's timing was perfect."

"What do you have there, Mudblood?" came a snide voice. Hermione supposed that people dealt with trauma in different ways. In Pansy Parkinson's case, it seemed to be to pretend that the war never even happened. She wasn't even given time to react before the Slytherin girl grabbed Bellatrix by the scruff and lifted her up, body squirmed and teeth flashing. "This old thing is even more mangy than that half-kneazle you had."

"Put her down, Pansy," she ordered, stepping forwards to grab the black fox only for Pansy to use her height against Hermione and lift Bellatrix further into the air and out of Hermione's reach. 

"Pansy, just stop," came Malfoy's voice. 

Pansy rolled her eyes, but put Bellatrix down again, albeit more aggressively than necessary. "Come on Draco, let's go to class. It stinks of mudblood around here."

Draco looked back at Hermione, a dead look in his eyes accenting his gaunt face. He clearly hadn't been looking after himself in the aftermath of the war. Hermione gave him an almost imperceptible smile before he turned and walked away.

"We should head to class too. I don't know about you guys, but I've got McGonnigal first and I do _not_ want to be late," Ginny said.

"Likewise. I Luna and I have Snape," Hermione replied. 

The group got up and headed to their respective classrooms. The seventh years were now all in the same class, and as a result, they were all pretty much constantly together. Hermione was used to ignoring the Slytherins' presences on the way down the stairs to the dungeons, but Bellatrix clearly hadn't forgotten the incident at breakfast and, being - well, Bellatrix - jumped out of Hermione's arms halfway down the staircase and darted through Pansy's legs, tripping up the girl. Books, quills and parchment flew as the witch stumbled before completely losing her footing. 

The echo of her fall in the stone passageway was followed by deadly silence until Snape strode out of the classroom, robes billowing. 

"Professor," Pansy said, voice changed slightly due to her bloody nose. "Granger's familiar tripped me up."

Bellatrix took this opportunity to jump back into Hermione's arms, a haughty gleam in her dark eyes. Snape locked eyes with Hermione, and her cheeks coloured with embarrassment. He looked down at Bellatrix and his eyes sparked with something unidentifiable before saying, "I'll see you after class, Miss Granger."

Class had never flown by so quickly. As the classroom emptied, dread pooled in the pit of Hermione's stomach. "Professor, I-" her mouth snapped closed with an audible click as Snape shot her a glare that clearly said _shut up._

"Miss Granger. Do you know who that fox is?" 

Hermione looked down at Bellatrix, who raised her chin. "Yes sir."

"Then I advise you to think about your actions from here on out very carefully."

"You're not- you're not going to do anything?"

" _Think,_ Miss Granger. The ministry is already having to go through half the wizarding population to decide who to trust. If I come forward and even mention a Death Eater's name, I will be the one under scrutiny. If you want to be an idiot and try to help Bella, then just try not to get yourself killed in the act."

* * *

The rest of the school day had gone fairly uneventfully, and at eight, Hermione and Bellatrix finally returned to the dorms after having been studying with the others at the library and grabbing dinner. Hermione had slipped a bunch of food into her bottomless bag, which she shoved in Bellatrix's direction haphazardly as she sat at her desk and pulled her school things out again. The woman transformed back into her human form and looked over Hermione's shoulder at her essay. 

"Still studying Muddy?"

"Just shut up and eat."

"Moody, are we?"

In all honesty, Hermione was just plain tired. Whilst the school day had been uneventful, she'd been chasing around after Bellatrix practically all day. The witch had just constantly been trying to sneak off for some reason or another, meaning it was like looking after a two-year-old. One second-year muggle-born - the only one left other than Hermione - had asked if Bellatrix had gotten hit by a car, and the dark fox had looked ready to murder. 

"I've got to finish this essay for Professor Snape by tomorrow."

"Snivellus, Snivellus, even after a war he hasn't changed much. I always knew there was something off about him. Whenever we were in meetings-"

"I do not want to hear about your life as a Death Eater, Bellatrix."

Bellatrix huffed, "You forgot boomslang skin."

"Goddammit," Hermione cursed under her breath. Polyjuice potion. She'd brewed it in _second year._ Why is it now that she couldn't remember the foundational ingredients. "Do you mind?" she snapped at Bellatrix. The dark witch was far too close for comfort when she was leaning on the back of Hermione's chair like that and breathing down her neck. She twisted around sharply to face the woman, gritting her teeth at the pain of a throbbing headache. She groaned and put her head on the desk. Bellatrix cackled. "What?"

"Just you, Mudblood."

"I told you not to call me that."

"And obviously I didn't listen."

"And suddenly I pity Narcissa," Hermione muttered as she added boomslang skin to her ingredients list. Bellatrix leaned on the back of her chair again and Hermione twisted around. "Can I have some space?"

"You forgot to say please," Bellatrix mocked. 

Hermione scraped her chair back, causing Bellatrix to stumble to find her footing. "I'm going to change. Turn around."

"So private all of a sudden Granger. Why's that?"

"Shut up, Black."

Bellatrix smirked, but turned away. "So what are we going to do about sleeping arrangement, muddy?"

"I'll sleep on my bed, you'll sleep on the floor."

"Really? A mudblood on a bed whilst a pureblood's on the floor. That's not going to happen."

"Why do you hate muggles and muggleborns so much?"

"They're stupid and dirty and unworthy of magic."

"And yet you're the one who walked right into a literal trap," Hermione shot back defensively, turning back to Bellatrix as she finished changing. "I'm done."

"It was dark and-"

"You got caught in a muggle-made trap." Hermione grinned a little a this revelation. "You're out here saying how muggles are stupid, and yet they fooled you." She let out a laugh, but her amusement was short-lived as she was shoved roughly against the wall. Bellatrix pressed her forearm against Hermione's throat and her body against the younger witch's in an attempt to stop her wriggling. Hermione froze as Bellatrix pressed closer to her, teeth bared. She swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the warmth of Bellatrix's body against her own. 

Her mind flashed back to Malfoy Manor, not even a year ago. Bellatrix had tortured her. _Tortured._ She hadn't remembered the details at first. They'd come back to her in fragments, pieces. First she'd remembered the sting of pain on her arm, then when the boys bursted in, then the cold hard floor against her back, followed by her ear-splitting screams. The boys weren't here now. They weren't here to burst in and save her if things went wrong. 

She didn't want this to happen now. She didn't want the intrusive memories now. Not when she was in front of Bellatrix, and not when she couldn't get away. They happened randomly sometimes - in class or in her nightmares. That was okay, because she could leave class and the others would understand because they were going through it too, she was alone when she was in her room. But now, now she wasn't. She didn't want Bellatrix to see the mess she became when she succumbed to those memories, because eventually she _would_ succumb, when it all became too much to bear. When the weight became too heavy on her shoulders, when unfallen tears stung her eyes.

Sh didn't want this to happen now, but it did. She saw herself back on the floor of Malfoy Manor, body limp and arm bloodied as Bellatrix carved into her, spelling out the grotesque word that would forever mark her skin. She felt dull pain all over her body as she reached the point where she stopped registering so much pain. Someone was screaming. Maybe it was her. She saw the maniacal grin and crazed look in Bellatrix's eyes, whilst all her own conveyed was pain. She'd wanted to die. She'd wanted anything to make the pain stop.

Back in the present, Hermione didn't register her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. She didn't register her hands - no, her entire body - trembling and shaking. She didn't register her legs giving way and her body sliding to the floor. 

Bellatrix stared at the muggle-born in confusion. What had happened? Mildly concerned, she prodded at Hermione's leg with her boot, only for the younger witch to flinch away and curl her body in on itself like she was trying to disappear. It soon clicked in Bellatrix's head what this was. Her father had been abusive, and whilst Bellatrix and Narcissa had learnt to deal with and expect it, Andromeda had never really gotten the hang of it. She'd had episodes like this, but it had always been Narcissa who'd taken care of their sister. Bellatrix had never really been good at the whole _emotional comforting_ thing. 

When Hermione felt the real world start to come back to her, she soon became aware of a certain raven-haired witch sitting in the corner of the room. They locked eyes, but Hermione couldn't hold Bellatrix's gaze. Not after what she'd just re-lived. 

When the muggle-born witch looked away from her, something tugged at Bellatrix's conscience. Did she- was she feeling bad? No. She didn't feel empathy. She wasn't about to start now for some mudblood Gryffindor. Was it her fault though? Had the younger witch's PTSD been caused by her? Making a quick decision, Bellatrix stood, not missing Hermione's less-than-subtle flinch. She moved over to the younger witch's desk and picked up her quill.

"What are you doing?" Hermione's voice trembled a little more than she'd like it to. 

"Finishing your essay."

"What?"

"Severus knows I'm here now, so if you fail this assignment, it is also a reflection on my abilities and I refuse to be second-best at something. And let's be honest, you are not going to finish a worthy essay in the time awarded in your current mental state." Hermione had assumed Bellatrix was bright at school, but top of her class? She stared at. Bellatrix's back, double checking that she had her wand and that Bellatrix wasn't trying anything. "Get some sleep, Mudblood. You already look dead enough. You don't need another sleepless night to dig yourself a grave."

Hermione begrudgingly decided that it would be in her best interests to listen to Bellatrix, because whilst she was dramatic and evil and- you know the rest - she was right. Hermione cast wards on the door and her bed, so no one could walk in and - more importantly - Bellatrix couldn't get out. She placed the one on her bed to prevent Bellatrix attacking her or stealing her wand as she slept. She slipped under the covers, still watching Bellatrix's back. 

"You need to close your eyes to sleep, Muddy," Bellatrix said, still writing with her back to the younger witch.

Reluctantly, Hermione closed her eyes, senses on high alert. She must have been exhausted, because at some point she actually fell asleep. In the same room as the Death Eater who tortured her.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave prompts and suggestions if you have any 😊


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